


Standard Poltergeist Activity

by alchemicink



Category: Hey! Say! JUMP
Genre: Fluff, Fluff and Humor, Getting Together, Ghosts, Halloween, Haunting, Humor, I couldn't decide if this was an AU or not, M/M, Socks, featuring a prankster poltergeist
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-29
Updated: 2019-10-29
Packaged: 2021-01-06 03:20:37
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,108
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21219707
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/alchemicink/pseuds/alchemicink
Summary: Three times Takaki was scared of a ghost, plus one time he wasn't





	Standard Poltergeist Activity

**Author's Note:**

> So last month I decided to write a bunch of Halloween-inspired fics for multiple fandoms, and this was one of the HSJ ideas I had. I actually wrote parts of this for shiritori, but decided now would be the perfect occasion to finish it! It was shamelessly inspired by the ghost story podcast I've been listening to this past year. Hope y'all enjoy~!

When he first learned about the fumigation in his apartment building which would kick him out for the day, Takaki’s original plans had been to find a nice coffee shop somewhere to hang out, maybe do some people-watching for a while. A lazy day because he didn’t have to work anyway. Maybe he’d wander around the city and discover new places he’d never been before. 

But then Hikaru offered to let him hang out at his apartment for the day, and before he had time to think about it, Takaki found himself agreeing. 

“Nice place,” Takaki says as he arrives, slipping his shoes off as he closes the door behind himself. The apartment is small but doesn’t have that feeling of too much stuff crammed into too little space. 

“I like it,” Hikaru shrugs. “It’s home.” 

Takaki settles down on the couch, sparing a glance towards Hikaru’s bass collection nearby. He wonders if he can convince Hikaru to play for him later. He’d always enjoyed listening to his music. The passion Hikaru has for creating melodies has always been a wonder to behold. Takaki admits only to himself that he sometimes stares too long at Hikaru while he writes music.

Hikaru settles down beside him on the couch with a bowl of cereal.

And that’s when it happens. 

They both glance up as the light over their heads begins to flicker rapidly as if someone’s playing with the switch, and then the curtains start swinging wildly as if a strong breeze had just blown through the room. 

Except that there had been no breeze. And no one had been playing with the lightswitch.

“Weird,” Hikaru shrugs and returns his attention to the bowl of cereal in his hands. 

“Weird?” Takaki repeats, trying to ignore his rapidly racing heartbeat. “Nah, weird is when someone thinks a mayonnaise and pickle sandwich tastes good.” He points up to the light and over to the window. “_That_… that was scary!” 

Hikaru remains unconcerned. “It’s just the ghost.” 

“The what?!” Takaki yelps. 

As if on cue, he starts to hear the sound of the cabinet doors in the kitchen opening and closing as though someone is childishly attempting to make a lot of noise. But they’re both in the living room and no one else is in Hikaru’s small apartment. 

Takaki scoots closer to his friend, jostling the bowl of cereal which Hikaru scrambles to save from spilling out.

“You didn’t tell me your place was haunted,” Takaki hisses. His eyes dart warily around the room just in case a ghostly apparition decides to stroll in at any moment. He can feel his heart still pounding in his chest.

“It’s just your standard poltergeist activity,” Hikaru answers between bites of cereal. “You know, lights flickering, moving things around, stealing my socks. That kind of stuff.” 

“Wait, what was that about your socks?” 

At that moment, a bunch of random socks fall from out of nowhere onto the two of them. Hikaru manages to shield his cereal from any harm. Takaki, however, yelps again and jumps up, looking at the ceiling as if there would be some explanation for the sudden rain of footwear. 

“Bit of a prankster,” Hikaru explains like he’s simply commenting on something mundane like the weather. 

Takaki picks up a pair of striped socks, examining them closely to make sure they’re real and relatively normal. Finding nothing odd, he finally plops back down on the couch beside Hikaru, at a loss for what else he can do. He thinks his brain might have stopped trying to process anything right now.

“Cereal?” Hikaru offers, holding the bowl out to him.

Takaki shakes his head. “How do I know your cereal isn’t haunted too?” 

Hikaru grins. “Guess that’s a risk you’ll just have to take.” 

And the light flickers again. 

*** 

After the first visit, Takaki did not intend to return to Hikaru’s apartment again. Not with a ghost lurking around. But a week later, he finds himself immediately accepting an invitation to hang out. Despite his fears, he still enjoys spending time with his friend.

Of course, his hopes for a normal afternoon are ruined soon after he arrives.

“I am freaking out!" Takaki glances towards the bathroom nervously, like he's ready to duck for cover at any moment. 

Hikaru has no sympathy for Takaki's declaration. He continues to read his book, not paying any mind to the sound of running water. The sound which is currently the source of Takaki's anxiety. 

"There's only two of us here and we're both in this room. And yet, we both just heard the water faucets turn on full blast in the bathroom," Takaki recaps, making wide sweeping hand gestures as if Hikaru didn't know where anything was in his own apartment. 

"I'm aware," Hikaru says, not even looking up from his book. 

"How do you live like this?" Takaki says with exasperation, throwing his hands in the air. "You never know what the ghost is going to do next. What if these pranks are all a part of some evil ghostly plan?" 

"And yet, you keep coming to visit me," Hikaru replies with a chuckle. 

The water faucet abruptly turns off. 

"I'm just checking on you. That's all," Takaki says defiantly, crossing his arms for good measure. He isn’t going to admit to himself or anyone else the other reason he keeps visiting.

An ever so faint sound of laughter echoes throughout the room, and it's not coming from either of them. Takaki's eyes widen. Hikaru merely marks the page in his book and closes it. 

"Even the ghost doesn't believe you," Hikaru points out. 

Takaki pouts and declares he's going home. But when he reaches the door and tries to slip his shoes back on, they fly out of his hands and land precisely on the coffee table several steps away. 

Takaki stares in disbelief. Hikaru shrugs and heads towards his kitchen to start cooking a meal for two. 

"That's a sign that you should stay for dinner."

*** 

The next time Takaki returns to Hikaru’s apartment, he’s armed with a cheap charm from a nearby temple. It’s meant to ward off evil spirits, so he waves it around in the air right after he takes off his shoes by the front door. Maybe it’ll protect him from whatever the poltergeist has planned for this time. 

“What are you doing?” Hikaru asks, looking amused. 

“Scaring away the ghost,” Takaki answers, twirling the charm above his head a second time just for extra luck. 

Hikaru holds his laughter in for about two and a half seconds before it spills out from his lips, echoing around the room. Takaki enjoys the sound of Hikaru’s laugh, except for when it’s directed _at_ him. 

“Let me see that,” Hikaru says, holding his hand out to inspect the charm. Once Takaki drops it in his hand, Hikaru holds it up closely and then bursts out laughing again. 

“What?” Takaki demands. “What is it?” 

Hikaru points to the kanji stitched into the charm. “You know this says it’s for good luck in school, right?”

“Damn,” he curses, snatching the charm back and checking it himself. He feels his cheeks burning because he’d stupidly picked up the wrong one. 

“You don’t need it anyway,” Hikaru says, gesturing for him to stop standing by the front door. “I told you the ghost is just a harmless prankster.” 

Takaki remains unconvinced, but he follows Hikaru to the living room anyway. Hikaru had promised to play music for him today, and even his fear of the prankster poltergeist couldn’t keep him from that. 

For a while, he forgets all about the ghost as he sits and listens to Hikaru play samples of different songs. He jumps in every now and then with random lyrics he makes up off the top of his head, and Hikaru grins as he jots them down on paper to remember later. Takaki doesn’t consider himself musically gifted at all, but he _can_ sing. And when he’s watching Hikaru’s fingers expertly fly across his bass guitar, Takaki can’t help but sing out the feelings building in his chest. 

He’s not sure how much time has passed before their jam session is interrupted with an impromptu drum solo.

They both freeze—Hikaru looking amused, Takaki slightly horrified—as they listen to the sound of someone tapping out rhythms on a set of metallic pots and pans. They venture a look into the kitchen and discover all of the pots and pans stacked neatly into pyramid shapes on the table. They can’t see anyone, but they still hear the percussive music emanating from the makeshift musical instruments. 

“I think someone is jealous of our musical duo,” Hikaru laughs, as Takaki cowers behind him eyeing the kitchenware cautiously. “But sorry, ghostie,” he continues addressing the empty air, “you’re kind of intruding on our time together.” 

The pots and pans clatter simultaneously to the floor like a dramatic crescendo-ing finale to a symphony, the last metallic clangs echoing off the walls before fading away. Reacting to the loud noise without thinking, Takaki finds himself clinging to Hikaru in what is probably an uncomfortable bone-crushing hug. 

“Yuya,” Hikaru begins, speaking softly. “You really don’t have to be scared of the ghost.”

“I know,” Takaki mutters reluctantly. He’s pressed his face into the side of Hikaru’s neck, feeling the steady pulse of Hikaru’s heart as his own continues to race frantically. He should pull away, apologize for invading Hikaru’s personal space, and probably go home, but he can’t bring himself to leave the warmth he’s wrapped up in. 

If he doesn’t move though, he might accidentally end up admitting out loud the feeling he’s been trying to ignore for a while now, the one that’s been blooming in his chest every time he sees Hikaru. 

“By the way,” Hikaru continues, shifting slightly so that he’s hugging Takaki back, “maybe now is a good time to confess… that I kinda, sorta… like you.” 

Takaki’s head shoots up so fast, he accidentally knocks Hikaru in the chin. He ignores the pain from the collision to stare into Hikaru’s eyes, searching for any signs of this being a joke. But currently Hikaru only looks slightly annoyed by the pain in his chin. 

“I was hoping you felt the same way, since you keep coming over here despite being afraid of the ghost,” Hikaru continues, looking hopeful. 

Takaki is sure his eyes are so wide in shock, they might actually fall out of his head. He had no idea Hikaru felt the same way he did. “I like you too,” he blurts out. 

“Perfect,” Hikaru smiles. “But also… do you think you could let go of me now though? I’m losing the feeling in my arms.” 

“Whoops,” Takaki lets go. He takes a step back and accidentally trips over one of the pots still resting on the floor, arms flailing in the air as he falls down. He feels his face heat up in embarrassment again. “I’m… just going to stay down here for a while.” 

The poltergeist decides now is also the perfect time to make it rain socks again, and Takaki just continues lying there as he is covered in Hikaru’s footwear. 

“Oh, I was looking for these,” Hikaru says, picking up a striped pair of socks resting on Takaki’s forehead.

Takaki considers that whatever reason why Hikaru likes him back might be more mysterious than the ghost.

*** 

“Happy anniversary,” Takaki says as he rummages around in his bag to pull out his present. He’s snuggled up on the couch beside Hikaru. The credits of the movie they just finished watching scroll across the TV on mute. 

“Has it been a year already?” Hikaru teases, planting a kiss on the side of Takaki’s forehead. “But I thought we weren’t exchanging presents?” he adds, looking curiously at the small package in Takaki’s hands. 

“I know, but I saw this and I couldn’t resist,” he explains. He watches eagerly as Hikaru opens it up, waiting for his reaction. 

Inside the package is a plain silver-chain necklace with a simple ghost-shaped charm attached. Hikaru throws his head back with a laugh, a happy look settling over his facial expression. 

“Really?” he grins. “A ghost necklace? You’re so cheesy.” 

Takaki laughs too as he helps Hikaru put it on, fiddling a moment to make sure the clasp shuts properly. “Well, you know, I feel like Ghostie helped us get together,” he says, remembering the days when the prankster poltergeist still scared him. 

“Right,” Hikaru nods and then calls out, “thanks Ghostie!” 

The light overhead flickers like someone is playing with the switch.


End file.
